Liberty is an advocacy group based in the United Kingdom. Its formal name is the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL).[1] The NCCL was founded in 1934 by Ronald Kidd and Sylvia Crowther-Smith (later Scaffardi).[2] Liberty campaigns to protect civil liberties and promote human rights – through the courts, in Parliament and in the wider community. It does this through a combination of public campaigning, test case litigation, parliamentary lobbying, policy analysis and the provision of free advice and information. The aim is to not only protect civil liberties but also to engender a 'rights culture' within British society.[2] The current director of Liberty is Shami Chakrabarti, who took the role in September 2003.

In 2009, the organisation celebrated its 75th anniversary. The event was marked with a conference which saw some of Britain's leading thinkers and campaigners debate the challenges to rights and freedom in modern Britain.[3]

The National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL) was founded in 1934. The inaugural meeting took place in the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London on 22 February. A letter published in The Times and The Guardian newspapers announced the formations of the group, citing "the general and alarming tendency to encroachment on the liberty of the citizen" as the reason for its establishment.[6] The first campaign was against the criminalisation of pacifist or anti-war literature. Under the proposed Incitement to Disaffection Bill, commonly known as the 'Sedition Bill', it would have been a criminal offence to possess pacifist literature, for example anti-war pamphlets. Although the Bill became law as the Incitement to Disaffection Act 1934, NCCL succeeded in watering it down.[5] Other prominent early themes included campaigning against fascists, against film censorship and support for striking miners in Nottinghamshire.[7]

After never fully recovering from a car accident in 1937, general secretary Ronald Kidd died in 1942 and was succeeded by Elizabeth Acland Allen.

During the 1940s NCCL led protests against a BBC ban on artists who attended a 'People's Convention' organised by the Communist party.[5]

Miscarriages of justice

At this time NCCL was also involved in several miscarriage of justice cases, including that of Emery, Powers and Thompson, who were sentenced to between four and ten years imprisonment for assaulting a police officer, even though someone else confessed to the crime and the prosecution evidence was flawed. NCCL found a witness who confirmed the men's alibi and they were released from prison and granted a royal pardon.[8]

Reform of the Mental Health System

During the 1950s NCCL campaigned for reform of the mental health system, under which people known to be sane but deemed 'morally defective' – unmarried mothers, for example – could be locked up in an asylum.

The 1960s saw the organisation broaden its scope, particularly from 1966 under new general secretary Tony Smythe. It campaigned on racial issues, on behalf of gypsies, children, prisoners and servicemen who had changed their decision about joining the forces.[7] This broader range of campaigning resulted in a large rise in membership and a higher profile in the media.[10]

Opposition to racial discrimination

After 1960, NCCL responded to the tightening of immigration laws and a rise in race-hate incidents by lobbying for the Race Relations Act, which came into force in 1965. NCCL also published pamphlets exposing the effective 'colour bar', whereby black and Asian people were refused service in certain pubs and hotels.[5]

Following Conservative MP Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech in 1968 the NCCL set about organising an emergency "Speak out on Race" meeting and also presented an NCCL petition to the Prime Minister.

Women's rights

Campaigning for women's rights was also a major part of NCCL's work in this period, including successfully calling for reform of jury service laws that effectively prevented women and the poor from serving on juries by means of a property qualification.[5]

Right to public protest

NCCL intervened on behalf of groups refused permission to protest and monitoring the policing of demonstrations such as those against the Vietnam War.[5]

Support for reluctant servicemen

NCCL also campaigned to raise awareness of the difficulty faced by 'reluctant servicemen' – men in the armed forces who had often signed-up as teenagers then realised they'd made a mistake but were prevented from discharging themselves for anything up to 16 years.[5]

In 1975 NCCL bought 3 million credit rating files from Konfax Ltd after they were offered for sale in the Evening Standard. The files were destroyed and the major privacy protection 'Right to Know' campaign to give individuals greater control over their personal information was launched in 1977.[5]

Near the end of 1974, Patricia Hewitt, later a Labour cabinet minister, was appointed as general secretary.[7] A number of other future high-profile Labour politicians worked at the organisation at this time, such as Harriet Harman, who worked as the legal officer from 1978–82, and Jack Dromey, later her husband, was a member (1970-79) and chairman of the Executive Committee.

Paedophilia

In 1976, the NCCL in a submission to the Criminal Law Revision Committee of the British Parliament argued that "Childhood sexual experiences, willingly engaged in, with an adult result in no identifiable damage… The real need is a change in the attitude which assumes that all cases of paedophilia result in lasting damage".[12] Organisations such as Paedophile Information Exchange (P.I.E.), a pro-paedophile activist group, and Paedophile Action for Liberation became affiliated to the pressure group.[13]Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty, issued an apology about the links between the NCCL and the PIE. In December 2013, she said: "It is a source of continuing disgust and horror that even the NCCL had to expel paedophiles from its ranks in 1983 after infiltration at some point in the 70s."[14][15]

Gay rights and censorship

NCCL acted for the owners of 'Gay's the Word' bookshop, whose stock was confiscated by Customs officers in 1984. All charges were dropped and the stock was returned.[11]

Miners' strike

During the miners' strike, NCCL campaigned on behalf of miners stopped from picketing outside their home regions.[5]

During the Gulf War, Liberty successfully campaigned for the release of over 100 Iraqi nationals – some of whom were openly opposed to Saddam Hussein – detained without charge in Britain on the grounds that they posed a risk to national security.[5]

Miscarriage of justice

Throughout the 1990s Liberty focused again on miscarriage of justice cases and campaigned for reform of the criminal justice system. High-profile cases included that of the Birmingham Six, who were released after 16 years in prison for IRA bombings they did not commit.[5]

Human Rights Act

At the start of the 2000s, Liberty used the protections in the new Human Rights Act 1998 to fight a number of landmark cases, including supporting terminally-ill Diane Pretty's fight to die with dignity and Christine Goodwin's fight for transgender rights.

Liberty's Legal Counsel Shami Chakrabarti was appointed as Liberty's new director in September 2003. The organisation became increasingly high-profile, with Chakrabarti making regular appearances in the media. She was described in The Times newspaper as "the most effective public affairs lobbyist of the past 20 years".[17][18]

During 2007 and 2008 Liberty led the opposition to government plans to extend detention without charge for those suspected of terrorism to 42 days. Liberty won a major campaign victory when the government dropped the proposal after it was rejected by the House of Lords in October 2008.[11]

Gooch Gang

In April 2009, Liberty controversially protested against a poster campaign by Greater Manchester Police which depicted a series of notorious Manchester gangsters, the Gooch Gang, as pensioners. The billboard campaign used computer-generated images of Colin Joyce and Lee Amos to show how the "aged" criminals would look when they are finally released from prison in the 2040s. Liberty supported claims that the posters should be removed following complaints from family members of the gangsters, not involved with their relative's criminality, who claimed they were being targeted in the community after the posters were erected.[19]

In response to the vast security systems which were put in place ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games, Liberty raised concerns with regards to the infringements to civil liberties which would subsequently occur. Liberty argued that neither peaceful protest nor the right to free speech were a factor in ensuring the safety of the Games.[22]

For their eyes only

Another prominent campaign in 2012 was "For their eyes only"[23] in response to the proposed Justice and Security Bill which was introduced in the House of Lords on 28 May 2012. The Bill was introduced as a result of prolific media investigations and litigation surrounding the UK Government and proposed "secret courts"[24] and evidence which would be non-disclosable. A campaign presence and attendance by Shami Chakrabarti at the Liberal Democrats Conference in September 2012 in Brighton successfully led to the passing of a motion by Jo Shaw, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson for Holborn and St Pancras, against the Bill.[25] Nevertheless, the substantially unchanged Bill became law in April 2013.[26]

Extradition Watch

A current prominent campaign by Liberty has been in relation to fairer extradition laws and the opposition of unfair extradition proceedings, the most prominent case being that of Gary McKinnon who gained world wide press attention. Other prolific cases included that of Babar Ahmed, Talha Ahsan and Christopher Tappin.

Gary McKinnon

16 October 2012 saw a victory for Gary McKinnon, after a decade-long ordeal, as the Home Secretary, Teresa May, announced that she was refusing to allow Gary's extradition to the US on the basis that doing so would breach his Human Rights.[27] Gary McKinnon was charged in 2002 of hacking into US military and NASA systems, but maintains that he was looking for UFOs and evidence of free energy suppression. Gary, who suffers from Asperger Syndrome, could have spent up to 70 years in a US jail if convicted[28] and it was argued by his lawyers in an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that because of this factor and because the crime was committed in the UK that he should be tried in the UK. Director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti said of the Home Secretary's decision "This is a great day for rights, freedoms and justice in the United Kingdom."[29] The Home Office also admitted that it was the Human Rights Act which essentially prevented the extradition.[30][31]

Gay Rights

Liberty intervened in the case of gay couple Michael Black and John Morgan who were turned away from a B&B because of the owner's religious views. On 18 October 2012 it was ruled that the B&B owner was in breach of equality legislation by unlawfully discriminating against the couple on the basis of their sexual orientation. Liberty's Legal Director James Welch, said of the decision "Hopefully today's ruling signals the death knell of such 'no gays' policies – policies that would never be tolerated if they referred to a person's race, gender or religion."[32][33]

Liberty is both a non-profit company that employs staff and runs campaigns, and a member-based association. Both work closely with the Civil Liberties Trust. Liberty is divided into three organisations:

Liberty – an unincorporated association

A democratically-run membership association, which individuals can join.[34]

Liberty – the company

A non-profit company that employs staff and runs campaigns etc. It leases buildings and works closely with the Civil Liberties Trust (see below).[34]

The Civil Liberties Trust

The Civil Liberties Trust (CLT) is a registered charity (No. 1024948), independent of Liberty. The CLT has no staff, but commissions Liberty to conduct charitable work such as providing public advice and information, also research, policy work, and litigation.[35]

Being a cross-party, non-party political organisation, Liberty regularly publishes Policy Papers to provide consultation to parliamentary committees on issues relating to human rights and civil liberties in the UK.[46]